Sound balance shifting

This is really annoying, and I can't figure out what's doing it. Is it iTunes 4?

After a few hours of using my beautiful new 17-inch PowerBook, the sound balance of my speakers shifts to the left or to the right. This isn't just perceived; I can open up the Sound Preference Pane and see exactly how much they've shifted. This has happened several times now. I am certain that a user isn't doing this; I'm the only one and I know better. What else could cause this? I hate having to open up that Preference Pane all the time to get normal sound!

My Indigo iMac 500Mhz G3 gets this problem occasionally (maybe once every few weeks, after a restart or startup) My first thoughts are my external speakers have a dodgy connection (they're getting abit old and have been abused) but a quick visit to the Sound preference panel reveals all is not ok.

I've looked just now and its set itself about 1/3rd to the Right all by itself! What on earth is going on here? The bug was present for me in OS X 10.2.4 and still seems to be here in 10.2.6.

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